Niall, untill those experts show up I'll give it a shot. Since your lark doesn't show a prominent white throat, belly or eyebrow I thought it must be a Flappet Lark, one of the birds Pilanesberg is known to deliver. The rufous-edged wings also fit the profile. The bill colour puzzles me a bit though.

It's clearly a Mirafra lark and the pale underparts rules out all but Melodious / Monotonou. I don't have much to go by and the fact that it is a young bird makes it even trickier as the plumage features might not match the typical Monotonous / Melodious descriptions but I'm leaning towards Monotonous Lark.

Melodious seem to have more of a conical bill and a supercilium extending clearly in front of the eye. The most telling feature I would think it the rufous margins to the secondaries (I think these are more creamy on Melodious but I stand to be corrected).

At any rate, I'm hesitant to nail my colours to any mast but I'd lean towards Monotonous Lark on this one.

"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel." -Homer Simpson

Jeepers Niall, I'm having a tough time turning that bird into a Fawn-coloured Lark. The bill shape and facial markings doesn't look right and the overall body posture also seems wrong. One of the first things that often stand out on Fawn-coloured Lark is the horizontal body posture. Sure, these are only two pics and it may just be that you happened to have caught the bird in a more upright posture.

B.t.w, your calling Monotonous Lark pic is a whopper!

"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel." -Homer Simpson

Here are two other pics of FC Larks, more red, but I think the posture, neck patterning and eye ring seem to be similar in this? I just can't place the giss with that of Monotonous, nor does it have the white neck, although as you say it is quite upright...

But doesn't this comparrison prove that this bird is not a Fawn-coloured Lark? Body shape and bill shape are different and the white patch/ring under the eye is missing in the Pilanesberg bird. Also not convinced that it's a Monotonous though. There's not a start to a white throat to be seen...

I hear what you're saying Niall and I'm becoming less and less certain the more I ponder this bird. I'm still not comfortable with that very stocky bill for Fawn-coloured Lark. Sure, the breast/throat markings certainly do seem more like those of FCL (even though the underparts are perhaps a tint or two too dirty) but they can vary a fair bit in colour.

It is also true that the white throat of Monotonous Lark should have showed up well. In fact, the white patch usually extends onto the sides of the neck as well, your Mapungubwe bird shows this nicely.

So basically I'm convincing myself here that the bird in question is a Fawn-coloured Lark although I'm resisting the idea The shortness of the bill and the facial markings are the main reasons why I'm having difficulty accepting FCL.

"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel." -Homer Simpson